Monday, 31 December 2012

2012 and all that

Real life got in the way of the Blog last year, hence the
paucity of posting.I will endeavour to
increase the input this year, but don’t hold your breath…

So, musical highlights..?Quite a few and because I’m vain and egotistical, I expect you to be
interested in my opinions. So here they are:

Album of the year by a goddamn country mile – ‘PLUMB’ by
FIELD MUSIC.

A new (ish) British band that doesn’t suck! Or think it’s
M*mf*rd and S*ns… ‘Plumb’ deserved the
Mercury Prize it was nominated for a million times over, but hey ho. That particular
Middle Class advertising campaign always strikes me as being the most
tokenistic backslap fest this side of the MOBOs. And don’t get me started on
them… Anyhoo, if you haven’t heard Field Music, then shame on you - here’s your
chance to rectify that egregious omission. They manage to combine tons of cool
influences together and still produce a sound that remains unique. Tricky time
signatures, off kilter rhythms and sparkly little curlicues abound and yet the
music is catchy and accessible. Sometimes they sound like the good bits of Radiohead.
Then XTC. Then bloody Genesis circa ‘The Silent Sun’. Anyway, buy their records
NOW.

(Thanks to the legendary Zinc Alloy of Yeah Yeah Noh and PRoM fame who badgered me into listening to them - he got so sick of my puerile excuses, he actually gave me a copy of the CD. Whattaguy).

"(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing"

‘Three Minute Tease’ - Three Minute Tease.

This was one of my albums of the year last year, when it was
only available as an unmastered download. The physical album came out this
year, so it wins again. My blog, my rules, so suck it up. I’ve raved about
Anton Barbeau many times to anyone who’ll listen (and quite a few who didn’t
want to, either…) so suffice to say that this is fan-bleeding-tastic. Anton also released an EP on the marvellous Fruits De Mer label in 2012. Coloured vinyl, picture sleeve, non album B sides. Nothing gets yer
pulse racing more than a sentence like that eh?

"Love Is Onion"

‘Boys Don’t Cry’ – Rumer.

Yeah, laugh it up hipsters, but she’s got an amazing voice
and she covers Todd. Go ahead, shoot me.

"Be Nice To Me"

‘Danzig In The Moonlight’ – Ken Stringfellow.

Almost too ambitious, but there are some masterful tunes on
here. The coolest person ever to be called Ken. But will we ever see another
Posies album…?

"Superwise"

Honourable mentions go to the 2012 releases by The Darkness
(Hard Rock album of the year for ‘Hot Cakes’), Shrag and Brendan Benson.

Gig of the Year:Big Star Third at The Barbican.

And to think, I nearly didn’t go. What a great night. Jody
Stephens surrounded by an amazing cast of musicians and a walk-on by the mighty
Ray Davies. In spite of the fact that
(whisper it) ‘Third’ is my least favourite of the 70’s Big Star albums, the
songs came across beautifully – tightly arranged and masterfully played by all concerned.
Emotional and inspiring. And I nearly
knocked Stewart Lee over on my rush from the WC.

"September Gurls"

Personal Musical Highlights of the Year:

1. Playing a concert on a bandstand In Paris with my school
Rock Ensemble. Following a brush with Les Gendarmes De Paris (obnoxious, unhelpful
and VERY rude, unlike all the other Parisians who we dealt with, who were sweet
and delightful), I decided to vent my frustrations on a Drumkit which I pounded
to near extinction during a ‘spirited’ rendition of ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’. Apparently
concrete wobbled, but I felt loads better afterwards.

2. Playing ‘Wombling Merry Christmas’ at the Mr Apollo annual Christmas
Charity gig. This is not the way my career was supposed to turn out. Fun tho’.

New Years Resolutions:

Write more Blog posts

Write (and record) more songs

Learn all the Bass parts to my new bands’ set

Don’t get involved with Singer-Songwriters who turn out to
be …”challenging” says he diplomatically.

7 comments:

Ah Rushbo, always a delight to hear from you! I can understand "life" getting in the way of your blog....but the villian in my case was "apathy!" All the best for next year, hope to hear more from you.

Field Music, good stuff but they need to get over their Big Star influences a bit. Tell Zinc bloke to admit how brilliant Big Star really are. Thank me for dragging you to The Barbican gig!!Rawk on Mr Rushbury.XXXX

Excellent Ian. Field Music agreed. Can't argue with much of waht you say apart from Rumer.

I wish The DB's album had been better.

My gobsmacked moment came at the end of the year with Thomas McConnell. A 19 year old who should really be playing Call Of Duty 3, but is coming out with Psych that could have been recorded in the late sixties.

Happy new year homeboy, I had to flog your Field Music ticket at the Slade Rooms (my gig of the year tied with Dweezil) cos you were, ahem, tidying your sock draw! See yow in 2013 for more adventures with sound <{*.~}>

Well Zinc me old matey, you were right all along, but my sock drawer is looking gorgeous. And thanks to Mr D Knight esq for convincing me that the Barbican Big Star gig was going to be worth seeing. I need looking after in my old age.

Hey! Have a Happy New Year, my friend! It's nice to see the gears are still turning. I like your best of choices for 2012. Nice resolutions for 2013 as well, especially the last two. You forgot to add no more scrapes with the law or barroom brawls. Actually, those two are on my list, but they probably apply to everyone (too old for that shit) on this comment page. As for your posts, we'd all love to see more, but we'll take what we can get.

However, the reason I'm commenting here – apart from showing you my appreciation for yer mad bloggin' skillz – is because I have an audiovisual present for you but couldn't find a way to email you to let you know. (I found your work email address, but I wasn't about to pester you at work.)

It's a rare interview with Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart from 1977, recorded during 10cc's Australian tour. It was originally broadcast on (the now long-gone) Australian TV music program Flashez, and was shown again two days ago as part of a TV program presenting old clips.

I've blogged about it here, but if you want to bypass my shameless self-promotion and go straight to the YouTube video it's here:

Welcome...

says the rationale of this Blog is to make rare or out of print stuff available or bring attention to cool new things - to that end, no 'in-print' stuff will be included and I'll link to new bands and artists, only making available approved mp3s. If you've got a good reason for me to cease and desist, then I will.